It has been two weeks since the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society located the Japanese whaling fleet and shut down illegal whaling operations in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin and Bob Barker continue to pursue the illegal Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru despite a blizzard, heavy winds and mammoth swells.

“The conditions are horrendous,” said Steve Irwin 1st Officer Locky MacLean,“It’s a challenge but one that we are handling with ease. Try as they might to head into the wind and seas, they have not been able to shake us off.”

In the rough conditions, the Nisshin Maru attempted to turn on the Steve Irwin a couple of times and almost caused a collision but the Sea Shepherd ships are quite easily avoiding their reckless maneuvers.

All illegal whaling operations have been shut down since February 5^th. The Sea Shepherd ships are achieving their objective of cutting Japanese whaling fleet profits and the lethal kill quota.